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127-665: The Liberal Catholic Church was founded by J. I. Wedgwood and Charles Webster Leadbeater , two Theosophists . Wedgwood had been consecrated as a bishop in 1916 in England by Frederick Samuel Willoughby ; Willoughby had been consecrated as bishop by Arnold Harris Mathew of the Old Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain , but had later been disowned by Mathew. Wedgwood then travelled to Australia and ordained and consecrated Leadbeater. Wedgwood established

254-612: A via media ('middle way') between Protestantism as a whole, and Catholicism. The faith of Anglicans is founded in the Scriptures and the Gospels , the traditions of the Apostolic Church, the historical episcopate , the first four ecumenical councils , and the early Church Fathers , especially those active during the five initial centuries of Christianity, according to the quinquasaecularist principle proposed by

381-536: A 12-inch reflector telescope (which was very expensive at the time) to observe the heavens at night. He also studied French, Latin and Greek. An uncle, his father's brother-in-law, was the well-known Anglican cleric William Wolfe Capes . By his uncle's influence, Leadbeater was ordained an Anglican priest in 1879 in Farnham by the Bishop of Winchester . By 1881, he was living with his widowed mother at Bramshott in

508-579: A building named for Leadbeater. After Blavatsky left Adyar in 1886 to return to Europe and finish writing The Secret Doctrine , Leadbeater claimed to have developed clairvoyant abilities. In 1889, Sinnett asked Leadbeater to return to England to tutor his son and George Arundale (1878–1945). He agreed and brought with him one of his pupils, Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa (1875–1953). Although struggling with poverty himself, Leadbeater managed to send both Arundale and Jinarajadasa to Cambridge University. Both would eventually serve as International presidents of

635-446: A compromise, but as "a positive position, witnessing to the universality of God and God's kingdom working through the fallible, earthly ecclesia Anglicana ". These theologians regard scripture as interpreted through tradition and reason as authoritative in matters concerning salvation. Reason and tradition, indeed, are extant in and presupposed by scripture, thus implying co-operation between God and humanity, God and nature, and between

762-503: A cottage which his uncle had built, where he is listed as "Curate of Bramshott". He was an active priest and teacher who was remembered later as "a bright and cheerful and kindhearted man". About this time, after reading about the séances of reputed medium Daniel Dunglas Home (1833–1886), Leadbeater developed an active interest in spiritualism. His interest in Theosophy was stimulated by A. P. Sinnett 's Occult World , and he joined

889-524: A course of meditation practice "which awakened his clairvoyance." One day when the Master Kuthumi visited, he asked whether Leadbeater had ever attempted "a certain kind of meditation connected with the development of the mysterious power called kundalini ." The Master recommended him to make a "few efforts along certain lines," and told him that he would himself "watch over those efforts to see that no danger should ensue." Leadbeater accepted

1016-554: A distinct Christian tradition, with theologies, structures, and forms of worship representing a different kind of middle way, or via media , originally between Lutheranism and Calvinism, and later between Protestantism and Catholicism – a perspective that came to be highly influential in later theories of Anglican identity and expressed in the description of Anglicanism as "catholic and reformed". The degree of distinction between Protestant and Catholic tendencies within Anglicanism

1143-509: A divine order of structures through which God unfolds his continuing work of creation. Hence, for Maurice, the Protestant tradition had maintained the elements of national distinction which were amongst the marks of the true universal church, but which had been lost within contemporary Catholicism in the internationalism of centralised papal authority. Within the coming universal church that Maurice foresaw, national churches would each maintain

1270-481: A few boys approaching maturity who came to him for help. He commented, "I know that the whole question of sex feelings is the principal difficulty in the path of boys and girls, and very much harm is done by the prevalent habit of ignoring the subject and fearing to speak of it to young people. The first information about it should come from parents or friends, not from servants or bad companions." The revelations regarding Leadbeater's advice prompted several members of

1397-684: A great deal that would shock you profoundly." But most members of the Council of the London Lodge approved the joining of Leadbeater. He was joined into the Theosophical Society together with professor Crookes and his wife. On that day at the Lodge meeting "have been some two hundred people present," including such as professor Myers , Stainton Moses and others. Blavatsky In a section I Meet Our Founder Leadbeater describes

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1524-559: A high degree of commonality in Anglican liturgical forms and in the doctrinal understandings expressed within those liturgies. He proposes that Anglican identity might rather be found within a shared consistent pattern of prescriptive liturgies, established and maintained through canon law , and embodying both a historic deposit of formal statements of doctrine, and also framing the regular reading and proclamation of scripture. Sykes nevertheless agrees with those heirs of Maurice who emphasise

1651-636: A high-ranking officer of the Society and remained one of its leading members until his death in 1934, writing over 60 books and pamphlets and maintaining regular speaking engagements. Leadbeater was born in Stockport , Cheshire, in 1854. His father, Charles, was born in Lincoln and his mother Emma was born in Liverpool . He was an only child. By 1861, the family had relocated to London, where his father

1778-681: A new age and religion. Leadbeater assigned the pseudonym Alcyone to Krishnamurti and under the title "Rents in the Veil of Time", he published 30 reputed past lives of Alcyone in a series in The Theosophist magazine beginning in April 1910. "They ranged from 22,662 BC to 624 AD ... Alcyone was a female in eleven of them." Leadbeater stayed in India until 1915, overseeing the education of Krishnamurti; he then relocated to Australia. During

1905-416: A nuanced view of justification, taking elements from the early Church Fathers , Catholicism , Protestantism , liberal theology , and latitudinarian thought. Arguably, the most influential of the original articles has been Article VI on the "sufficiency of scripture", which says that "Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby,

2032-861: A possibility, as other denominational groups rapidly followed the example of the Anglican Communion in founding their own transnational alliances: the Alliance of Reformed Churches , the Ecumenical Methodist Council , the International Congregational Council , and the Baptist World Alliance . Anglicanism was seen as a middle way, or via media , between two branches of Protestantism, Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity. In their rejection of absolute parliamentary authority,

2159-543: A result of Leadbeater's presence there and Sydney became comparable to Adyar as a centre of Theosophical activity. In 1922, the Theosophical Society began renting a mansion known as The Manor in the Sydney suburb of Mosman . Leadbeater took up residence there as the director of a community of Theosophists. The Manor became a major site and was regarded as "the greatest of occult forcing houses". There he accepted young women students. They included Clara Codd, future President of

2286-402: A table to its crown and lifting that also! I looked down to the feet of the table; they were about six inches from the carpet, and no human foot was touching them or near them! I passed my own foot underneath, but there was certainly nothing there—nothing physically perceptible, at any rate." The author says that he was not himself thinking of the phenomenon "in the least as a manifestation from

2413-451: A tone of military command the one word 'Mohini!' and then walked straight out of the door into the passage. The stately and dignified Mohini came rushing down that long room at his highest speed, and as soon as he reached the passage threw himself incontinently flat on his face on the floor at the feet of the lady in black. Many people arose in confusion, not knowing what was happening; but a moment later Mr. Sinnett himself also came running to

2540-403: Is Catholicism expressing the love of God to the full without the burdens of needless guilt and fear, and the false totem of the temporal powers of the church." It is an autobiographical book by Leadbeater; it was first published in 1930. Spiritualism and Theosophy Leadbeater tells that he was interested always in a variety of anomal phenomena, and if in any newspaper report it was said about

2667-786: Is known as the English Reformation , in the course of which it acquired a number of characteristics that would subsequently become recognised as constituting its distinctive "Anglican" identity. With the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559, the Protestant identity of the English and Irish churches was affirmed by means of parliamentary legislation which mandated allegiance and loyalty to the English Crown in all their members. The Elizabethan church began to develop distinct religious traditions, assimilating some of

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2794-770: Is named Liberal Catholic Church International (LCCI), and despite its name it is only present in the USA. The LCCI claims to adhere to Catholicism "with the widest measure of intellectual liberty and respect for the individual conscience." Both the LCC and the LCCI "describe themselves as the Liberal Catholic Church or the Liberal Catholic Church in the Province of the United States and both claim 'official' status as

2921-508: Is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." This article has informed Anglican biblical exegesis and hermeneutics since earliest times. Anglicans look for authority in their "standard divines" (see below). Historically, the most influential of these – apart from Cranmer – has been the 16th-century cleric and theologian Richard Hooker , who after 1660

3048-527: Is routinely a matter of debate both within specific Anglican churches and the Anglican Communion. The Book of Common Prayer is unique to Anglicanism, the collection of services in one prayer book used for centuries. The book is acknowledged as a principal tie that binds the Anglican Communion as a liturgical tradition. After the American Revolution , Anglican congregations in the United States and British North America (which would later form

3175-528: Is still considered authoritative to this day. In so far as Anglicans derived their identity from both parliamentary legislation and ecclesiastical tradition, a crisis of identity could result wherever secular and religious loyalties came into conflict – and such a crisis indeed occurred in 1776 with the United States Declaration of Independence , most of whose signatories were, at least nominally, Anglican. For these American patriots, even

3302-415: Is unthinkable to anyone who knew her... Her absolute genuineness was one of the most prominent features of her marvellously complex character." Letters from Kuthumi The author tells that during the study of spiritualism his greatest confidant was medium William Eglinton . On one of the spiritualistic séances Eglinton's spirit guide "Ernest" agreed to take Leadbeater's letter in order to transmit it to

3429-475: Is used to describe the people, institutions, churches, liturgical traditions, and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a church member in the Anglican Communion. The word is also used by followers of separated groups that have left the communion or have been founded separately from it. The word originally referred only to the teachings and rites of Christians throughout

3556-699: The "Masters" that according to Blavatsky were the inspiration behind the formation of the Theosophical Society, and were its hidden guides. This was the start of a long career with the Theosophical Society. During 1885, Leadbeater traveled with Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907), first President of the Theosophical Society, to Burma and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ). In Ceylon they founded the English Buddhist Academy, with Leadbeater staying there to serve as its first headmaster under very austere conditions. This school gradually expanded to become Ananda College , which now has more than 6,000 students and has

3683-537: The 1552 prayer book with the conservative "Catholic" 1549 prayer book into the 1559 Book of Common Prayer . From then on, Protestantism was in a "state of arrested development", regardless of the attempts to detach the Church of England from its "idiosyncratic anchorage in the medieval past" by various groups which tried to push it towards a more Reformed theology and governance in the years 1560–1660. Although two important constitutive elements of what later would emerge as Anglicanism were present in 1559 – scripture,

3810-605: The Acts of Union of 1800 , had been reconstituted as the United Church of England and Ireland (a union which was dissolved in 1871). The propriety of this legislation was bitterly contested by the Oxford Movement (Tractarians), who in response developed a vision of Anglicanism as religious tradition deriving ultimately from the ecumenical councils of the patristic church. Those within the Church of England opposed to

3937-643: The Apostles' Creed as the baptismal symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith . Anglicans believe the catholic and apostolic faith is revealed in Holy Scripture and the ecumenical creeds (Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian) and interpret these in light of the Christian tradition of the historic church, scholarship, reason, and experience. Anglicans celebrate

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4064-680: The Celticist Heinrich Zimmer, writes that the distinction between sub-Roman and post-Roman Insular Christianity, also known as Celtic Christianity, began to become apparent around AD 475, with the Celtic churches allowing married clergy, observing Lent and Easter according to their own calendar, and having a different tonsure ; moreover, like the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox churches,

4191-500: The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. In the latter decades of the 20th century, Maurice's theory, and the various strands of Anglican thought that derived from it, have been criticised by Stephen Sykes , who argues that the terms Protestant and Catholic as used in these approaches are synthetic constructs denoting ecclesiastic identities unacceptable to those to whom the labels are applied. Hence,

4318-755: The Christian sacraments in The Science of the Sacraments: An Occult and Clairvoyant Study of the Christian Eucharist , one of the most significant works of Christian esotericism. In his prologue to the latest edition of this book, John Kersey refers to the Eucharist proposed by Leadbeater as "a radical reinterpretation of the context of the Eucharist seen within a theological standpoint of esoteric magic and universal salvation; it

4445-543: The Devachanic Plane (or The Heaven World) both of which contained writings on the realms the soul passes through after death. "For the first time among occultists, a detailed investigation had been made of the Astral Plane as a whole, in a manner similar to that in which a botanist in an Amazonian jungle would set to work in order to classify its trees, plants and shrubs, and so write a botanical history of

4572-511: The Lutheran Book of Concord . For them, the earliest Anglican theological documents are its prayer books, which they see as the products of profound theological reflection, compromise, and synthesis. They emphasise the Book of Common Prayer as a key expression of Anglican doctrine. The principle of looking to the prayer books as a guide to the parameters of belief and practice is called by

4699-425: The Master Kuthumi . In this letter the author "with all reverence" wrote that ever since he had first heard of theosophy his one desire had been to place himself under Master as a chela (pupil). He also wrote about his current circumstances and asked whether a pupil needed to be in India for seven years of probation. Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which developed from

4826-527: The Roman Catholic liturgy of his time, for which Leadbeater sought to remove what he regarded as undesirable elements, such as (in his view) the blatant anthropomorphisms and expressions of the fear and wrath of God, which he regarded "as derogatory alike to the idea of a loving Father and to the men He has created in His own image." "If Christians", he wrote, "had been content to take what Christ taught of

4953-682: The See of Rome . In Kent , Augustine persuaded the Anglo-Saxon king " Æthelberht and his people to accept Christianity". Augustine, on two occasions, "met in conference with members of the Celtic episcopacy, but no understanding was reached between them". Eventually, the "Christian Church of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria convened the Synod of Whitby in 663/664 to decide whether to follow Celtic or Roman usages". This meeting, with King Oswiu as

5080-511: The Theosophical Society in 1883. The next year he met Helena Petrovna Blavatsky when she came to London; she accepted him as a pupil and he became a vegetarian. Around this time he wrote a letter to Kuthumi , asking to be accepted as his pupil. Shortly afterward, an encouraging response influenced him to go to India ; he arrived at Adyar in 1884. He wrote that while in India, he had received visits and training from some of

5207-539: The Theosophical Society in America , clairvoyant Dora van Gelder , another future President of the Theosophical Society in America who during the 1970s also worked with Delores Krieger to develop the technique of Therapeutic touch , and Mary Lutyens , who would later write an authorized Krishnamurti biography. Lutyens stayed there in 1925, while Krishnamurti and his brother Nitya stayed at another house nearby. The Manor became one of three major Theosophical Society sites,

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5334-534: The Tractarians , especially John Henry Newman , looked back to the writings of 17th-century Anglican divines, finding in these texts the idea of the English church as a via media between the Protestant and Catholic traditions. This view was associated – especially in the writings of Edward Bouverie Pusey – with the theory of Anglicanism as one of three " branches " (alongside the Catholic Church and

5461-610: The historic episcopate , the Book of Common Prayer , the teachings of the First Four Ecumenical Councils as the yardstick of catholicity, the teaching of the Church Fathers and Catholic bishops, and informed reason – neither the laypeople nor the clergy perceived themselves as Anglicans at the beginning of Elizabeth I's reign, as there was no such identity. Neither does the term via media appear until

5588-464: The "three-legged stool" of scripture , reason , and tradition is often incorrectly attributed to Hooker. Rather, Hooker's description is a hierarchy of authority, with scripture as foundational and reason and tradition as vitally important, but secondary, authorities. Finally, the extension of Anglicanism into non-English cultures, the growing diversity of prayer books, and the increasing interest in ecumenical dialogue have led to further reflection on

5715-599: The "triumphant" appearance of Blavatsky at a meeting of the London Lodge of the British Theosophical Society, where he saw her for the first time. "Suddenly and sharply the door opposite to us opened, and a stout lady in black came quickly in and seated herself at the outer end of our bench. She sat listening to the wrangling on the platform for a few minutes, and then began to exhibit distinct signs of impatience. As there seemed to be no improvement in sight, she then jumped up from her seat, shouted in

5842-413: The 1627 to describe a church which refused to identify itself definitely as Catholic or Protestant, or as both, "and had decided in the end that this is virtue rather than a handicap". Historical studies on the period 1560–1660 written before the late 1960s tended to project the predominant conformist spirituality and doctrine of the 1660s on the ecclesiastical situation one hundred years before, and there

5969-401: The 16th-century Reformed Thirty-Nine Articles form the basis of doctrine. The Thirty-Nine Articles played a significant role in Anglican doctrine and practice. Following the passing of the 1604 canons, all Anglican clergy had to formally subscribe to the articles. Today, however, the articles are no longer binding, but are seen as a historical document which has played a significant role in

6096-592: The 1830s, the Church of England in Canada became independent from the Church of England in those North American colonies which had remained under British control and to which many Loyalist churchmen had migrated. Reluctantly, legislation was passed in the British Parliament (the Consecration of Bishops Abroad Act 1786) to allow bishops to be consecrated for an American church outside of allegiance to

6223-473: The Anglican churches and those whose works are frequently anthologised . The corpus produced by Anglican divines is diverse. What they have in common is a commitment to the faith as conveyed by scripture and the Book of Common Prayer , thus regarding prayer and theology in a manner akin to that of the Apostolic Fathers . On the whole, Anglican divines view the via media of Anglicanism not as

6350-859: The Asia-Pacific. In the 19th century, the term Anglicanism was coined to describe the common religious tradition of these churches and also that of the Scottish Episcopal Church , which, though originating earlier within the Church of Scotland , had come to be recognised as sharing this common identity. The word Anglican originates in Anglicana ecclesia libera sit , a phrase from Magna Carta dated 15 June 1215, meaning 'the English Church shall be free'. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans . As an adjective, Anglican

6477-475: The British Crown (since no dioceses had ever been established in the former American colonies). Both in the United States and in Canada, the new Anglican churches developed novel models of self-government, collective decision-making, and self-supported financing; that would be consistent with separation of religious and secular identities. In the following century, two further factors acted to accelerate

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6604-663: The Canadian and American models. However, the case of John Colenso , Bishop of Natal , reinstated in 1865 by the English Judicial Committee of the Privy Council over the heads of the Church in South Africa, demonstrated acutely that the extension of episcopacy had to be accompanied by a recognised Anglican ecclesiology of ecclesiastical authority, distinct from secular power. Consequently, at

6731-434: The Catholic Church does not regard itself as a party or strand within the universal church – but rather identifies itself as the universal church. Moreover, Sykes criticises the proposition, implicit in theories of via media , that there is no distinctive body of Anglican doctrines, other than those of the universal church; accusing this of being an excuse not to undertake systematic doctrine at all. Contrariwise, Sykes notes

6858-634: The Celtic churches operated independently of the Pope's authority, as a result of their isolated development in the British Isles. In what is known as the Gregorian mission , Pope Gregory I sent Augustine of Canterbury to the British Isles in AD 596, with the purpose of evangelising the pagans there (who were largely Anglo-Saxons ), as well as to reconcile the Celtic churches in the British Isles to

6985-631: The Church." After Roman troops withdrew from Britain , the "absence of Roman military and governmental influence and overall decline of Roman imperial political power enabled Britain and the surrounding isles to develop distinctively from the rest of the West. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core. What resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices." The historian Charles Thomas , in addition to

7112-441: The English Established Church , there is no need for a description; it is simply the Church of England, though the word Protestant is used in many legal acts specifying the succession to the Crown and qualifications for office. When the Union with Ireland Act created the United Church of England and Ireland, it is specified that it shall be one "Protestant Episcopal Church", thereby distinguishing its form of church government from

7239-553: The English bishop Lancelot Andrewes and the Lutheran dissident Georg Calixtus . Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as "containing all things necessary for salvation" and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith. Reason and tradition are seen as valuable means to interpret scripture (a position first formulated in detail by Richard Hooker ), but there is no full mutual agreement among Anglicans about exactly how scripture, reason, and tradition interact (or ought to interact) with each other. Anglicans understand

7366-409: The Father in heaven, they would never have saddled themselves with the jealous, angry, bloodthirsty Jehovah of Ezra, Nehemiah and the others – a god that needs propitiating and to whose 'mercy' constant appeals must be made." Thus the Credo of the Liberal Catholic Church liturgy for the shorter form of Holy Eucharist written by Leadbeater reads: Previously, Leadbeater had written on the energies of

7493-442: The Latin name lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"). Within the prayer books are the fundamentals of Anglican doctrine: the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, the Athanasian Creed (now rarely used), the scriptures (via the lectionary), the sacraments, daily prayer, the catechism , and apostolic succession in the context of the historic threefold ministry. For some low-church and evangelical Anglicans,

7620-438: The Liberal Catholic Church in the USA in 1917. Wedgwood says that during the existence of the early unified Liberal Catholic Church, he created the Liberal Rite . Following accusations of sexual misconduct with juveniles, in 1919, Wedgwood resigned from the Theosophical Society and the Liberal Catholic Church. In 1947, a part of the LCC split due to the controversy over the suspension of an LCC bishop. This independent split

7747-416: The Orthodox Churches) historically arising out of the common tradition of the earliest ecumenical councils . Newman himself subsequently rejected his theory of the via media , as essentially historicist and static and hence unable to accommodate any dynamic development within the church. Nevertheless, the aspiration to ground Anglican identity in the writings of the 17th-century divines and in faithfulness to

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7874-485: The Prayer Book is still acknowledged as one of the ties that bind Anglicans together. According to legend, the founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea and is commemorated at Glastonbury Abbey . Many of the early Church Fathers wrote of the presence of Christianity in Roman Britain , with Tertullian stating "those parts of Britain into which the Roman arms had never penetrated were become subject to Christ". Saint Alban , who

8001-404: The Presbyterian polity that prevails in the Church of Scotland . The word Episcopal ("of or pertaining to bishops") is preferred in the title of the Episcopal Church (the province of the Anglican Communion covering the United States) and the Scottish Episcopal Church , though the full name of the former is The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America . Elsewhere, however,

8128-419: The Society, Sinnett "became very grave and opined that that would hardly do," since Leadbeater was a clergyman. He had asked him why the Society discriminates against members according to the cloth. Sinnett replied: "Well, you see, we are in the habit of discussing every subject and every belief from the beginning, without any preconceptions whatever; and I am afraid that at our meetings you would be likely to hear

8255-412: The Theosophical Society to ask for his resignation. The Society held proceedings against him in 1906. Annie Besant, elected president of the Society in 1907, later stated in his defense: Charges of misconduct that went beyond the advice he admitted giving were never proven. He nevertheless resigned. After Olcott died in 1907, Annie Besant became president of the society following a political struggle. By

8382-530: The Theosophical Society. After H. P. Blavatsky 's death in 1891, Annie Besant , an English social activist, took over leadership of the Theosophical Society along with Colonel Olcott. Besant met Leadbeater in 1894. The next year she invited him to live at the London Theosophical Headquarters, where H.P. Blavatsky died in 1891. Leadbeater wrote over 60 books and pamphlets during the period from 1895 to his death in 1934, many of which continued to be published until 1955. Two noteworthy titles, Astral Plane and

8509-497: The Tractarians, and to their revived ritual practices, introduced a stream of bills in parliament aimed to control innovations in worship. This only made the dilemma more acute, with consequent continual litigation in the secular and ecclesiastical courts. Over the same period, Anglican churches engaged vigorously in Christian missions , resulting in the creation, by the end of the century, of over ninety colonial bishoprics, which gradually coalesced into new self-governing churches on

8636-422: The apostolic church, apostolic succession ("historic episcopate"), and the writings of the Church Fathers , as well as historically, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion and The Books of Homilies . Anglicanism forms a branch of Western Christianity , having definitively declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement . Many of the Anglican formularies of

8763-455: The appearance of ghosts or other curious events in the troubled house, he had been going immediately to this location. In a large number of instances it was a blank — "either there was no evidence worth mentioning, or the ghost declined to appear when he was wanted." Sometimes, however, there were signs of some success, and soon he had collected "an amount of direct evidence" that could easily convince him. In attitude to spiritualism Leadbeater

8890-399: The author, the impression which Blavatsky made "was indescribable." She was looking straight through man, and obviously saw everything that was in one, and not everyone liked it. Sometimes Leadbeater heard from her very unpleasant revelations about those with whom she spoke. He's writing: "Prodigious force was the first impression, and perhaps courage, outspokenness, and straightforwardness were

9017-450: The basis for the modern country of Canada) were each reconstituted into autonomous churches with their own bishops and self-governing structures; these were known as the American Episcopal Church and the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada . Through the expansion of the British Empire and the activity of Christian missions , this model was adopted as the model for many newly formed churches, especially in Africa, Australasia , and

9144-485: The change was mostly political, done in order to allow for the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage, the English Church under Henry VIII continued to maintain Catholic doctrines and liturgical celebrations of the sacraments despite its separation from Rome. With little exception, Henry VIII allowed no changes during his lifetime. Under King Edward VI (1547–1553), however, the church in England first began to undergo what

9271-693: The daytime rather than at night—and set himself at that time to keep his mind for a few minutes entirely free from all earthly thoughts of any kind whatever and, when that is achieved, to direct the whole force of his being towards the highest spiritual ideal that he happens to know. He will find that to gain such perfect control of thought is enormously more difficult than he supposes, but when he attains it, it cannot but be in every way most beneficial to him, and as he grows more and more able to elevate and concentrate his thought, he may gradually find that new worlds are opening before his sight." Professor Robert Ellwood wrote that from 1884 to 1888 Leadbeater undertook

9398-618: The dead," but only as the disclosure of some unknown new force. Leadbeater says that the first theosophical book that fell into his hands was Sinnett's The Occult World . Histories contained in this book were for him very interested, but "its real fascination lay in the glimpses which it gave of a wonderful system of philosophy and of a kind of inner science which really seemed to explain life rationally and to account for many phenomena," which Leadbeater has watched. He had written to Sinnett, who invited him to come to London in order to meet. The author tells that when he had claimed of joining

9525-610: The decennial Lambeth Conference , chairs the meeting of primates , and is the president of the Anglican Consultative Council . Some churches that are not part of the Anglican Communion or recognised by it also call themselves Anglican, including those that are within the Continuing Anglican movement and Anglican realignment . Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible , traditions of

9652-474: The development of a distinct Anglican identity. From 1828 and 1829, Dissenters and Catholics could be elected to the House of Commons , which consequently ceased to be a body drawn purely from the established churches of Scotland, England, and Ireland; but which nevertheless, over the following ten years, engaged in extensive reforming legislation affecting the interests of the English and Irish churches; which, by

9779-696: The dominant influence in Britain as in all of western Europe, Anglican Christianity has continued to have a distinctive quality because of its Celtic heritage." The Church in England remained united with Rome until the English Parliament, though the Act of Supremacy (1534) declared King Henry VIII to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England to fulfill the "English desire to be independent from continental Europe religiously and politically." As

9906-467: The door, went out and exchanged a few words, and then, re-entering the room, he stood up on the end of our bench and spoke in a ringing voice the fateful words: 'Let me introduce to the London Lodge as a whole—Madame Blavatsky!' The scene was indescribable; the members, wildly delighted and yet half-awed at the same time, clustered round our great Founder, some kissing her hand, several kneeling before her, and two or three weeping hysterically." According to

10033-477: The end of 1908, the International Sections voted for Leadbeater's readmission. He accepted and came to Adyar on 10 February 1909. At the time, Besant referred to Leadbeater as a martyr who was wronged by her and by the Theosophical Society, saying that "never again would a shadow come between her and her brother Initiate". In 1909 Leadbeater encountered fourteen-year-old Jiddu Krishnamurti at

10160-483: The existence of clairvoyance and familiar with theosophical terms." Leadbeater claims that the "power to see what is hidden from ordinary physical sight" is an extension of common reception, and "describes a wide range of phenomena ." Leadbeater writes about the importance of control over thinking and the need for skill "to concentrate thought": "Let a man choose a certain time every day—a time when he can rely upon being quiet and undisturbed, though preferably in

10287-622: The final decision maker, "led to the acceptance of Roman usage elsewhere in England and brought the English Church into close contact with the Continent". As a result of assuming Roman usages, the Celtic Church surrendered its independence, and, from this point on, the Church in England "was no longer purely Celtic, but became Anglo-Roman-Celtic". The theologian Christopher L. Webber writes that "Although "the Roman form of Christianity became

10414-629: The forms of Anglican services were in doubt, since the Prayer Book rites of Matins , Evensong , and Holy Communion all included specific prayers for the British royal family. Consequently, the conclusion of the War of Independence eventually resulted in the creation of two new Anglican churches, the Episcopal Church in the United States in those states that had achieved independence; and in

10541-417: The future. Maurice saw the Protestant and Catholic strands within the Church of England as contrary but complementary, both maintaining elements of the true church, but incomplete without the other; such that a true catholic and evangelical church might come into being by a union of opposites. Central to Maurice's perspective was his belief that the collective elements of family, nation, and church represented

10668-417: The historian who is in "full possession of this power" open up wonderful possibilities: "He has before him a field of historical research of most entrancing interest. Not only can he review at his leisure all history with which we are acquainted, correcting as he examines it the many errors and misconceptions which have crept into the accounts handed down to us; he can also range at will over the whole story of

10795-488: The historic episcopate . Within the Anglican tradition, "divines" are clergy of the Church of England whose theological writings have been considered standards for faith, doctrine, worship, and spirituality, and whose influence has permeated the Anglican Communion in varying degrees through the years. While there is no authoritative list of these Anglican divines, there are some whose names would likely be found on most lists – those who are commemorated in lesser feasts of

10922-423: The incompleteness of Anglicanism as a positive feature, and quotes with qualified approval the words of Michael Ramsey : For while the Anglican church is vindicated by its place in history, with a strikingly balanced witness to Gospel and Church and sound learning, its greater vindication lies in its pointing through its own history to something of which it is a fragment. Its credentials are its incompleteness, with

11049-466: The innumerable benefits obtained through the passion of Christ; the breaking of the bread, the blessing of the cup, and the partaking of the body and blood of Christ as instituted at the Last Supper . The consecrated bread and wine, which are considered by Anglican formularies to be the true body and blood of Christ in a spiritual manner and as outward symbols of an inner grace given by Christ which to

11176-473: The instigation of the bishops of Canada and South Africa, the first Lambeth Conference was called in 1867; to be followed by further conferences in 1878 and 1888, and thereafter at ten-year intervals. The various papers and declarations of successive Lambeth Conferences have served to frame the continued Anglican debate on identity, especially as relating to the possibility of ecumenical discussion with other churches. This ecumenical aspiration became much more of

11303-588: The international Anglican Communion , which forms the third-largest Christian communion in the world, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church , and the world's largest Protestant communion. These provinces are in full communion with the See of Canterbury and thus with the archbishop of Canterbury , whom the communion refers to as its primus inter pares ( Latin , 'first among equals'). The archbishop calls

11430-610: The jungle. For this reason the little book, The Astral Plane, was definitely a landmark, and the Master as Keeper of the Records desired to place its manuscript in the great Museum." Highlights of his writing career included addressing topics such as: the existence of a loving God, The Masters of Wisdom, what happens after death, immortality of the human soul, reincarnation, Karma or the Law of Consequence, development of clairvoyant abilities,

11557-400: The last century, there are also places where practices and beliefs resonate more closely with the evangelical movements of the 1730s (see Sydney Anglicanism ). For high-church Anglicans, doctrine is neither established by a magisterium , nor derived from the theology of an eponymous founder (such as Calvinism ), nor summed up in a confession of faith beyond the ecumenical creeds , such as

11684-518: The late 1920s, Krishnamurti disavowed the role that Leadbeater and other Theosophists expected him to fulfil. He disassociated himself from the Theosophical Society and its doctrines and practices, and during the next six decades became known as an influential speaker on philosophical and religious subjects. In 1915 Leadbeater moved to Sydney, where he laid the foundation-stone of the Theosophical Hall, "King's Hall" on Hunter Street . He

11811-486: The mid-16th century correspond closely to those of historical Protestantism . These reforms were understood by one of those most responsible for them, Thomas Cranmer , the archbishop of Canterbury , and others as navigating a middle way between two of the emerging Protestant traditions, namely Lutheranism and Calvinism . In the first half of the 17th century, the Church of England and the associated Church of Ireland were presented by some Anglican divines as comprising

11938-407: The mid-19th century revived and extended doctrinal, liturgical, and pastoral practices similar to those of Roman Catholicism. This extends beyond the ceremony of high church services to even more theologically significant territory, such as sacramental theology (see Anglican sacraments ). While Anglo-Catholic practices, particularly liturgical ones, have become more common within the tradition over

12065-480: The more well-known and articulate Puritan movement and the Durham House Party, and the exact extent of continental Calvinism among the English elite and among the ordinary churchgoers from the 1560s to the 1620s are subjects of current and ongoing debate. In 1662, under King Charles II , a revised Book of Common Prayer was produced, which was acceptable to high churchmen as well as some Puritans and

12192-485: The most insignificant cases that had happened to her. She was a wonderful storyteller, who knew how to give a good story and make the right impression. "Whatever else she may have been, she was never commonplace. She always had something new, striking, interesting, unusual to tell us." In connection with the accusations of Blavatsky's enemies in her alleged fraud, cheating, forgery, Leadbeater writes: "The very idea of deception of any sort in connection with Madame Blavatsky

12319-541: The nature of thought forms, dreams, vegetarianism, Esoteric Christianity He also became one of the best known speakers of the Theosophical Society for a number of years and served as Secretary of the London Lodge . Clairvoyance is a book by Leadbeater originally published in 1899 in London. It is a study of a belief in seeing beyond the realms of ordinary sight. The author mainly appeals readers "convinced of

12446-428: The offer of the Master and became "day after day" working on this kind of meditation. He worked on the task assigned to him for forty-two days, and it seemed to him that he was already on the verge of achieving a result when Kuthumi intervened and "performed the final act of breaking through which completed the process," and enabled Leadbeater thereafter to use astral sight while as he was retaining full consciousness in

12573-633: The others being at Adyar and the Netherlands. The Theosophical Society bought The Manor in 1925 and during 1951 created The Manor Foundation Ltd, to own and administer the house, which is still used by the Society. It was also during his stay in Australia that Leadbeater became the Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church and co-wrote the liturgy book for the church which is still in use today. The work represents an adaptation of

12700-485: The parameters of Anglican identity. Many Anglicans look to the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888 as the sine qua non of communal identity. In brief, the quadrilateral's four points are the scriptures as containing all things necessary to salvation; the creeds (specifically, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds) as the sufficient statement of Christian faith; the dominical sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion ; and

12827-519: The physical body. It is equivalent to saying that "the astral consciousness and memory became continuous," whether the physical body was awake or asleep. In the chapter "Simple Clairvoyance: Full" the author argues that an occultist -clairvoyant can "see" the smallest particles of matter, for example, a molecule or atom, magnifying them "as though by a microscope." In the chapter "Clairvoyance in Time: The Past" Leadbeater claims that before

12954-438: The polished surface of the table," and then began to spin so vigorously that it was difficult to keep on it their hands. Further, the author describes the events as follows: "Here was my own familiar silk hat, which I had never before suspected of any occult qualities, suspending itself mysteriously in the air from the tips of our fingers, and, not content with that defiance of the laws of gravity on its own account, attaching

13081-599: The practices, liturgy , and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation , in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity , with around 110 million adherents worldwide as of 2001 . Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans ; they are also called Episcopalians in some countries. The majority of Anglicans are members of national or regional ecclesiastical provinces of

13208-487: The private beach of the Theosophical Society headquarters at Adyar . Krishnamurti's family lived next to the compound; his father, a long-time Theosophist, was employed by the Society. Leadbeater believed Krishnamurti to be a suitable candidate for the "vehicle" of the World Teacher , a reputed messianic entity whose imminent appearance he and many Theosophists were expecting. The proclaimed savior would then usher in

13335-437: The repentant convey forgiveness and cleansing from sin. While many Anglicans celebrate the Eucharist in similar ways to the predominant Latin Catholic tradition, a considerable degree of liturgical freedom is permitted, and worship styles range from simple to elaborate. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the collection of services which worshippers in most Anglican churches have used for centuries. It

13462-515: The sacred and secular. Faith is thus regarded as incarnational and authority as dispersed. Amongst the early Anglican divines of the 16th and 17th centuries, the names of Thomas Cranmer , John Jewel , Matthew Parker , Richard Hooker , Lancelot Andrewes , and Jeremy Taylor predominate. The influential character of Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity cannot be overestimated. Published in 1593 and subsequently, Hooker's eight-volume work

13589-431: The second." Leadbeater writes that Blavatsky was the best interlocutor he had ever met: "She had the most wonderful gift for repartee; she had it almost to excess, perhaps." She also had knowledge of all sorts of things that relate to very different directions. She always had something to say, and it was never empty talk. She traveled a lot, and mostly on little-known places, and did not forget anything. She remembered even

13716-575: The shaping of Anglican identity. The degree to which each of the articles has remained influential varies. On the doctrine of justification , for example, there is a wide range of beliefs within the Anglican Communion, with some Anglo-Catholics arguing for a faith with good works and the sacraments. At the same time, however, some evangelical Anglicans ascribe to the Reformed emphasis on sola fide ("faith alone") in their doctrine of justification (see Sydney Anglicanism ). Still other Anglicans adopt

13843-416: The six signs of catholicity: baptism, Eucharist, the creeds, Scripture, an episcopal ministry, and a fixed liturgy (which could take a variety of forms in accordance with divinely ordained distinctions in national characteristics). This vision of a becoming universal church as a congregation of autonomous national churches proved highly congenial in Anglican circles; and Maurice's six signs were adapted to form

13970-409: The tension and the travail of its soul. It is clumsy and untidy, it baffles neatness and logic. For it is not sent to commend itself as 'the best type of Christianity,' but by its very brokenness to point to the universal Church wherein all have died. The distinction between Reformed and Catholic, and the coherence of the two, is a matter of debate within the Anglican Communion. The Oxford Movement of

14097-418: The term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity . In its structures, theology, and forms of worship, Anglicanism emerged as a distinct Christian tradition representing a middle ground between Lutheran and Reformed varieties of Protestantism ; after the Oxford Movement , Anglicanism has often been characterized as representing

14224-485: The theology of Reformed churches with the services in the Book of Common Prayer (which drew extensively on the Sarum Rite native to England), under the leadership and organisation of a continuing episcopate. Over the years, these traditions themselves came to command adherence and loyalty. The Elizabethan Settlement stopped the radical Protestant tendencies under Edward VI by combining the more radical elements of

14351-620: The traditional sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Mass . The Eucharist is central to worship for most Anglicans as a communal offering of prayer and praise in which the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are proclaimed through prayer, reading of the Bible, singing, giving God thanks over the bread and wine for

14478-463: The traditions of the Church Fathers reflects a continuing theme of Anglican ecclesiology, most recently in the writings of Henry Robert McAdoo . The Tractarian formulation of the theory of the via media between Protestantism and Catholicism was essentially a party platform, and not acceptable to Anglicans outside the confines of the Oxford Movement . However, this theory of the via media

14605-462: The true church. Both the LCCI and the LCC have similarities and differences, but the critical distinction lies in the succession of bishops." In 2006, former LCC Presiding Bishop Johannes van Alphen consecrated Markus van Alphen. Alphen, in turn, established the Young Rite. Bishop Johannes himself eventually joined the Young Rite, serving there until his death. Among the tenets of the Young Rite

14732-424: The world from its very beginning." The book was reprinted several times and translated into some European languages. Second edition of the book was published in 1903, and third—in 1908. In 1906, critics were angered to learn that Leadbeater had given advice to boys under his care that encouraged masturbation as a way to relieve obsessive sexual thoughts. Leadbeater acknowledged that he had given this advice to

14859-422: The world in communion with the see of Canterbury but has come to sometimes be extended to any church following those traditions rather than actual membership in the Anglican Communion. Although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. In British parliamentary legislation referring to

14986-478: Was a member of the Theosophical Society , Co-Freemasonry , an author on occult subjects, and the co-initiator, with J. I. Wedgwood , of the Liberal Catholic Church . Originally a priest of the Church of England , his interest in spiritualism caused him to end his affiliation with Anglicanism in favour of the Theosophical Society, where he became an associate of Annie Besant . He became

15113-477: Was a railway contractor's clerk. In 1862, when Leadbeater was eight years old, his father died from tuberculosis . Four years later a bank in which the family's savings were invested became bankrupt. Without finances for college, Leadbeater sought work soon after graduating from high school in order to provide for his mother and himself. He worked at various clerical jobs. During the evenings he became largely self-educated. For example, he studied astronomy and had

15240-515: Was also a tendency to take polemically binary partitions of reality claimed by contestants studied (such as the dichotomies Protestant-"Popish" or " Laudian "-"Puritan") at face value. Since the late 1960s, these interpretations have been criticised. Studies on the subject written during the last forty-five years have, however, not reached any consensus on how to interpret this period in English church history. The extent to which one or several positions concerning doctrine and spirituality existed alongside

15367-522: Was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches, which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world. In 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer , the then archbishop of Canterbury . While it has since undergone many revisions and Anglican churches in different countries have developed other service books,

15494-636: Was executed in AD 209, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. For this reason he is venerated as the British protomartyr . The historian Heinrich Zimmer writes that "Just as Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, so the British Church formed (during the fourth century) a branch of the Catholic Church of the West; and during the whole of that century, from the Council of Arles (316) onward, took part in all proceedings concerning

15621-406: Was increasingly portrayed as the founding father of Anglicanism. Hooker's description of Anglican authority as being derived primarily from scripture, informed by reason (the intellect and the experience of God) and tradition (the practices and beliefs of the historical church), has influenced Anglican self-identity and doctrinal reflection perhaps more powerfully than any other formula. The analogy of

15748-407: Was initially set up quite skeptical, but still one day decided to conduct an experiment with his mother and a some small boy, who, as they later discovered, "was a powerful physical medium ." They had a small round table with a leg in the middle and silk hat, which they put on the table, and then put their "hands upon its brim as prescribed." Surprisingly the hat gave "a gentle but decided half-turn on

15875-541: Was responsible for the construction of the Star Amphitheatre at Balmoral Beach in 1924. While in Australia he became acquainted with J. I. Wedgwood , a Theosophist and bishop in the Liberal Catholic Church who initiated him into Co-Masonry in 1915 and later consecrated him as a bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church in 1916. Public interest in Theosophy in Australia and New Zealand increased greatly as

16002-418: Was reworked in the ecclesiological writings of Frederick Denison Maurice , in a more dynamic form that became widely influential. Both Maurice and Newman saw the Church of England of their day as sorely deficient in faith; but whereas Newman had looked back to a distant past when the light of faith might have appeared to burn brighter, Maurice looked forward to the possibility of a brighter revelation of faith in

16129-567: Was the belief that all possessed a path to the priesthood, and anyone requesting ordination should receive it. This practice was abandoned in the United States after Markus van Alphen's retirement and with the establishment of the Community of Saint George, a Young Rite jurisdiction. Young Rite USA now requires a multi-year formation program for its clergy. Charles Webster Leadbeater Charles Webster Leadbeater ( / ˈ l ɛ d ˌ b ɛ t ər / ; 16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934)

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